{TABLE} Judas Maccabaeus ............ Handel {/TABLE} DUBLIN'S International Handel Fest finished yesterday afternoon with a rousing performance of Judas Maccabaeus. As with the opening concert - Messiah last Friday - the venue was the church of St Nicholas of Myra, in Francis Street.
This building lets sound bloom without obscuring detail, though the acoustic -proved more suitable for Friday's small choir and orchestra "than yesterday's large group, when the Handel Festival Orchestra (a scratch group of professionals) was joined by Our. Lady's Choral Society.
Soloists, choir and orchestra produced their fair share of slips, usually at the beginnings of numbers. However, these were momentary events, for the vigorous characterisation of most of the concert was winning. Judas calls for large instrumental forces and, from strings and wind alike, the Handel Festival Orchestra usually produced good tone and just balance.
Conductor Proinnsias O Duinn kept things moving along nicely, yet timed spaciously when this was needed. In this respect, the choruses For Zion Lamentation Make and Tune Your Harps were especially good. Our Lady's Choral Society handled with apparent ease both the subtle difficulties of the latter and such obvious difficulties as those in Hear Us, O Lord.
Christopher Hobkirk in the title role sometimes strained at the many high passages in the tenor solos and his over dramatisation of text produced some fuzzy rhythm and pitch. Otherwise, the soloists were a consistent group. Deirdre Cooling-Nolan, (alto) was notable, for rich tone and clear words and Maria Bovino (soprano) was effortless in her upper register.
The most impressive singing came from Cliona McDonough (mezzo soprano), especially in Wise Men Flattering (also a highlight instrumentally), and from Philip O'Reilly (bass), whose stirring performance as the prophetic, Sinon, was strong on musicianship and expressive scope.